Little Miss Granger
by ClairePace19
Summary: Oliver Wood and Hermione Granger meet as Hermione is desperate to find her classroom in first year. A sweet friendship develops, but Hermione soon recognizes that she feels more than friendship towards Oliver. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Don't worry, I'm going on with _Just because_. I wrote that ages ago, as I fell in love with that ship. The prologue is not very long, but I promise it's getting more!

**Disclaimer:** Not JKR.

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Hermione Granger was on the way to her first ever class in Transfiguration. She was desperate – the lesson would start in ten minutes and she still hadn't found the classroom. She sat down next to a statue of a wizard who was beaten up by trolls, and tried to arrange her thoughts. She had looked everywhere in the floors, she had been in the dungeons, tried every staircase she could find. It was so difficult to find something in Hogwarts, where everything seemed to change position and many things were hidden. There were hidden doors, steps which vanished, staircases which changed and doors which pretended to be doors. Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she tried to remember where she hadn't looked yet, and some passing Slytherins pointed at her and laughed. Hermione buried her face in her hands and wanted nothing more than finding the classroom she needed so desperately.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

Hermione looked up. A tall and sturdy boy stood before her, eyeing her with interest. She remembered him from the start-of-term feast – he was one of the older Gryffindors, who had greeted her warmly. Hermione noticed, once again, that he was rather handsome.

"I – I can't find my classroom," she answered in a small voice, wiping away her tears clumsily. The boy smiled kindly and offered her a tissue.

"First-year, aren't you?" he asked as Hermione blew her nose. "That's always difficult. What classroom are you looking for?"

"Transfiguration, and I think I'm already late," Hermione wailed desperately and got to her feet.

"Come on." The boy took her hand. "I'll take you there."

They set off in silence. Hermione wondered quietly why he was so kind to her – most of the other students, mostly other first-years, had been rather nasty to her, maybe because she was such a bookworm. But Hermione loved books, she couldn't help it. They were so much better friends than the other students, as books wouldn't let her down. They came to a halt in front of a heavy wooden door.

"There we are," the boy said.

"Thank you for your help," Hermione answered, smiling shyly. He really _was_ handsome.

"You're quite welcome, Miss…?"

"Granger. Hermione Granger."

"I'm Oliver Wood." He shook her hand. "You'd better get inside now, or you'll really be late."

"You're right. I guess I'll see you…sometime."

"Of course you will." Oliver winked at her and left. Hermione looked after him for a while.

"Oliver Wood," she whispered to herself, before she entered the classroom for Transfiguration.

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Hated it? Loved it? You know, I wanna know!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Well, here you go, the first chapter. As promised, it's way longer than the prologue. Enjoy and don't forget to review, please!

**Disclaimer:** No way am I as rich as JKR.

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„We really need some decent Chasers this year."

Hermione looked up from her notes on Transfiguration. She saw Oliver, the boy who had helped her so kindly this morning, sitting near the fire in the Gryffindor common room with the red-haired twins, Fred and George Weasley, and a pretty girl with long, blonde hair. They were apparently having some sort of discussion. Hermione strained her ears because she wanted to hear more.

"Definitely," the girl answered, looking around. "It was a nightmare last year with Randy and Dawn. I'll never forget how Dawn dropped the Quaffle just because Jared Mitchell looked at her."

"Miles wasn't any better," one of the twins said. "Did he catch the Snitch just one time?"

"Nope, he didn't," the other twin scoffed.

"The problem is that I'm not even sure anyone here is talented enough to be a Seeker," Oliver responded, sounding clearly desperate. "We don't need a second Charlie Weasley, but…"

"…it'll be nice if he actually saw the Snitch if it hovers directly in front of his nose." Fred or George finished in a disgusted voice.

"Uh-oh," the girl said, looking over at a group of girls which had just entered the common room. "Oliver, I think your fan club's arrived."

The boys looked up as well. Hermione saw a girl with thick, black hair waving at Oliver, beaming. Oliver responded the wave half-heartedly and returned to the discussion.

"Alicia, what do you think of Angelina Johnson?" he asked the blonde girl. Before Alicia could answer, the girl with the black hair had come over and sat down next to Oliver.

"Hello, April," he said warily, edging away from her because she had sat down rather close to him.

"Oliver, did I ever tell you how brilliant you were in the last game last year?" April squealed excitedly, fluttering her eyelashes.

"April, I was in hospital wing with a crushed jaw during the last game," Oliver answered unnerved. "Winston replaced me and we lost three hundred twenty to thirty."

Hermione sniggered as she saw April's befuddled expression, while Fred and George burst out laughing. Oliver caught her eye and rolled his eyes.

"If you'll excuse me," he continued. "I promised Hermione to help her with her homework."

"Hermione…?" April asked startled as Oliver stood up to walk over to Hermione.

"Hello," he greeted her. "So, how was your first lesson in Transfiguration?" Hermione felt a pang of excitement as he sat down next to her.

"It was great!" she said excitedly. "We transformed matches into needles and I was the only one who managed to turn the match silvery and pointy and Professor McGonagall showed everyone!"

"Indeed." Oliver grinned dashingly. They both noticed that April was still glaring at the pair of them, and maybe that was the reason why Oliver asked Hermione if she needed help with her homework.

"As a matter of fact, I'm already finished with all my homework," she couldn't help but feel disappointed about this.

"Really?" he looked pointedly at her notes. "And why on earth are you reading your notes?"

"I'm revising, of course."

Oliver said nothing, but looked at her closely for some moments. Hermione felt herself blushing and looked at April.

"Oh, that's April Vane," Oliver noted, following her gaze.

"She looks...nice."

"Honestly, she's a real nightmare," Oliver dropped his voice. "She's been after me since last year, it's really annoying. If it hadn't been for Fred and George, who had warned me soon enough, she had slipped me a love potion. The worst is that most of her friends seem to be of the same kind – imagine trying to learn for your exams while a group of girls is sitting next to you and they're all giggling like mad." He shook his head incredulously.

Again, they were silent for a while. Then Hermione piped up timidly: "What's a Snitch?"

Oliver stared at her, clearly shocked. "Haven't you ever heard of Quidditch?" he asked weakly. Hermione shook her head.

"I just read across the term in one of my books, but that's all." she answered.

"Are you Muggle-born?" Unlike some others, Oliver didn't sound disgusted or superior, but merely curious. As Hermione nodded, he smiled.

"Quidditch is a wizard-sport. It's played on broomsticks and there are three kinds of balls: the Quaffle, which is a big red ball, the two Bludgers, which are a bit smaller and black, and the Golden Snitch, which is tiny and, as the name says, golden. Then there are seven players on each team – three Chasers, who play with the Quaffle and try to throw it through one of the three hoops of the opposing team. Alicia Spinnet," he pointed at the blonde girl who was now talking to the twins. "Is one of our chasers, but we haven't got the other two for this year. The Keeper defends the hoops – I'm Keeper of Gryffindor. The two Beaters are carrying heavy bats and try to hit the Bludgers into the direction of an opposite player. You see, the Bludgers are magical balls, they fly on their own and try to knock the players off their broomsticks. Fred and George are our Beaters. And then there's the Seeker. His job is to catch the Golden Snitch, which, as the Bludgers, flies on his own and is very fast and difficult to see. The game only ends when the Snitch is caught, and the Seeker who catches the Snitch earns his team one hundred and fifty points."

Hermione had listened attentively. "The game sounds...dangerous," she concluded then.

Oliver burst out laughing. "Of course it's dangerous! But it's also very exciting. I wished we would win the Quidditch Cup this year – Slytherin won the last years. But without a decent team..." he sighed. "You see, I'm not only Keeper, I'm also the Quidditch captain for Gryffindor. Maybe that's the reason why April runs after me all the time." He looked thoughtful for a moment.

They talked about Quidditch for quite a time, and Hermione couldn't help but notice that the enthusiasm with which Oliver talked suited him very well. He told her about the games he had played and those he had seen, about the disastrous team of last year and even advised her a book in the library, called _Quidditch through the ages_. As Hermione finally went to bed, she made a mental note to read this book and dreamt the whole night about balls and a certain Quidditch player.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Third chapter, and again I have to thank you for your reviews! Let's see how you like this one.

**Disclaimer:** No way am I as brilliant as JKR.

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Fists clenched, Hermione rumpled a tissue and stared angrily at the door of her cubicle in the girls' bathroom. She had been sitting here the whole afternoon now, crying because of Harry and Ron, who had been talking very rudely about her.

As she blew her nose, she had to think of her first meeting with Oliver. He had been so kind to her – Hermione just couldn't imagine him talking about her as those stupid boys had done. In the two months she had spent in Hogwarts by now, he had talked to her rather often, about schoolwork and, of course, Quidditch. He had been particularly interested in her flying lessons. Hermione caught herself thinking about him very often, but she thought it was because he was the closest to a friend she had.

Hermione felt her stomach rumbling and thought she should go to the feast after all and eat something. Wiping her eyes, she thought that maybe Oliver would invite her to sit next to him. With that shining prospect, she stepped out of her cubicle and went to wash her face. A noise made her look around.

As Hermione saw the huge, ugly troll, she almost fainted.

***

It was an awkward situation. Just hours ago, Harry and Ron had been talking rude things about Hermione, and now, after an encounter with a murderous mountain troll, they sat together, keen to avoid each others eyes and talking quietly. What was more, Hermione had lied to a teacher. She had told Professor McGonagall a downright lie to get the boys out of trouble. But it had been a natural thing to do – after all, they had saved her life.

Hermione was glad as she saw Oliver making his way to her. Maybe, she thought, would he be able to get her out of this awkwardness. But then she saw his expression, a strange mixture of relief and anger.

"Hermione," he began, ignoring Harry and Ron completely. "What in the name of Merlin were you thinking?"

"I – what?" For a short moment, Hermione was completely nonplussed. Then it sunk in.

"Oh, right. Would you excuse me for a moment?" she asked Harry and Ron, who nodded. Hermione followed Oliver into a lonely corner, where he began to rant in a quiet voice.

"Do you have any idea how scared I was? First, you don't show up at the feast. Then there's a troll loose in the castle and you're nowhere to be seen, especially not in the common room. And then, when you finally show up, I hear something about you following that troll to finish it off all by yourself?" He glared at her. Hermione attempted to answer, but Oliver cut across her once again. "And anyway, why are you sitting with those prats? I thought you hated them!"

"The prats saved my life," Hermione answered quietly. She made use of his momentary silence to tell what really had happened.

"They're still idiots beyond words," Oliver said then, his expression softened. "But as they saved your life, I'm willed to forgive them – for now."

"Thanks," Hermione couldn't help but grin.

"But they'll better behave now," he looked into Harry and Ron's direction disparagingly. "If they're ever rude to you again, I might rethink my decision not to jinx them both."

"About which jinxes were you thinking?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Oh, a bit of this, a bit of that..." Oliver grinned, too, but just for a short moment. He became serious again almost instantly.

"Please, try to be a bit more careful," he said sincerely. "I know you didn't mean to, but I was really worried today."

For a short moment, Hermione thought that Oliver raised his hand. Her mind exploded with possibilities why he did this – maybe he wanted to grip her shoulder, or touch her face, or maybe he wanted to remove something from her robes. Her heartbeat quickened and her mind was oddly blank.

"Hi, Oliver!"

The short moment was gone and Hermione blinked. There stood no other than the infamous April Vane, glaring daggers at her. Oliver, who seemed oddly embarrassed, run his hand through his hair.

"I brought you a goblet of pumpkin juice, Oliver," April said, battling her eyelashes at him.

"Thanks," he said callously, not taking his eyes off Hermione. "Which sort of love potion did you skip this time?"

Hermione laughed and April blushed for some seconds, but regained composure very quickly. "No love potion, of course. Just pumpkin juice, and I bewitched it to keep it cold!"

"Yeah, sure," Oliver looked at her at last, amused. "Why don't you drink it yourself when there's no love potion?"

This time April blushed permanently and she stormed off angrily, not without a malicious glance at Hermione.

"Sorry about that," Oliver said to Hermione. "I told you she was annoying. I just don't understand why she doesn't give up, I've told her for over a year now that I'm not interested in her." He sighed heavily.

"Maybe it's because of your good-" Hermione was halfway through saying that Oliver had good looks and that this was the reason April didn't give up on him. In the last moment she stopped herself and, blushing furiously, shut her mouth tightly.

"What were you saying?" Oliver asked, now very quietly.

"I – I said it's maybe because of your good...Quidditch skills."

"Yes, that – that could be the reason, maybe."

They stared at each other, both oddly flustered.

"I guess I'll better go to bed," Hermione said then, desperate to end the weird silence. "Good night, I'll see you tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 3

N/A: I completely forgot to update, I'm so sorry! Now that I've got holidays, I'll try to update more recently. _Just because_, too.

Disclaimer: Not mine.

The incident with the dragon still bothered Hermione. She knew it had all been to help Hagrid, and it had turned out fine for him and Norbert, that beast. But still…one hundred and fifty points taken from Gryffindor! All the points the teachers had given to Hermione because she was smart and knew the answers to every question were gone with just one silly mistake. And poor Neville had to suffer too, which was just unfair to him.

It had been two days now since everyone had found out about it. Harry was still followed by insults wherever he went and no one wanted to talk to Hermione. Not that she cared much about it – Harry and Ron were her best friends, and they stuck with her. But there was someone…someone Hermione missed. Whom she missed very much.

Since the incident with the dragon, she hadn't been talking with Oliver Wood at all. She figured that he'd be livid with her, just as everyone else. She tried very hard to ignore him in the common room and in the Great Hall, but it was difficult in the corridors. Every time Oliver passed her, Hermione just looked the other way. She didn't want to see him angry or disappointed. It would make everything just worse.

And just as she went back to the Gryffindor common room, she heard him calling her name.

"Hermione? Wait a moment!"

She turned around, apprehensive, and prepared to defend herself against reproaches. And then Oliver asked something she didn't expect at all.

"Would you please tell me why you're ignoring me all the time?"

He sounded angry, alright, but Hermione couldn't help but feel surprised. She thought he wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore, and there he was, accusing her of ignoring him?

"I…" Hermione began, at loss for words. "I was busy, you know. The exams and everything…"

"You're a horrible liar, Hermione," Oliver said gently. "Why don't you just tell the truth?"

"I…oh my God, I've been so stupid. I'm sorry, but the truth is, I just didn't want to hear you…scolding me."

"Scolding you?"

"Because of all the points Gryffindor lost because of me. You know, two days ago."

"You thought I was angry at you?"

"You're not?"

"Of course not! I mean," Oliver looked around, noticing some second-years listening intently and dropped his voice. "I'm not too happy about loosing those points. And I thought everyone was kidding as they said that you were somehow involved. But I always thought our friendship was more important than some points."

Hermione wanted to kick herself. She wouldn't have minded if Oliver had been angry with her so much as she minded his disappointment now. He was hurt – she could hear that in his voice. And she hated to hear that – what was more, she hated to be the reason.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, pleading silently the hurt expression on Oliver's handsome face would vanish. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"No, you shouldn't have," Oliver answered, still very serious. "But the next time you do, don't start ignoring me. There's nothing we can't talk about, Hermione. Your friendship means a lot to me. I don't want to lose it because of some misunderstanding."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said again quietly. "I'm really sorry."

"Alright, alright, you can stop apologising now." At last, Oliver smiled. In an instant, Hermione's heart felt lighter.

"It's just…everyone seems so angry about it. I've never been one of the more popular students, but now it's a whole lot worse. None of the other girls in my dormitory want to talk to me anymore. It makes me think that I'm probably not good enough. For – for Hogwarts, I mean."

"Now don't start talking like that! I've heard things from the teachers about you, that you're one of the brightest witches they've taught in many years, and they're right. You're going to be better than anyone in your exams and you'll have the best grades. Hogwarts and its teachers should be proud to teach you."

Hermione started to get an impression of how Oliver motivated his team before Quidditch matches. That must have been one of the reasons why he became captain of the team – he was rather good at it.

"I…" she began, but Oliver wasn't finished.

"Besides, it always happens that the students here don't like somebody. It'll pass, it always does. If I told you how unpopular I've been in first year, you wouldn't believe me."

"No, I guess I wouldn't," Hermione admitted. "I can't imagine someone not liking you."

"See? I can't imagine someone not liking you as well."

Hermione smiled. It was nice to hear Oliver saying something like that. As much as she liked Harry and Ron, they never told her that she was likeable – they called her a know-it-all and rolled their eyes when she talked about the exams. Oliver had just said what she needed to hear right now.

"Thank you," she said, meaning every word of it. "Thank you very much."

"Anytime," Oliver responded with a small grin. And then he did something he had never done before – he walked over and hugged Hermione. She probably blushed furiously, but she didn't care – in this moment, nothing but Oliver and she existed. She closed her eyes and inhaled his fragrant and male scent.


	5. Chapter 4

Update, yay! Be proud! Jealous Oliver, yay! Be prepared!

I realised there are some questions in your reviews I didn't answer because I simply forgot about them - I'm really awfully sorry about that and will answer now:

CinderellaAtTheBall: That's an interesting question I was dying to be asked, and I would say: yes, most possibly. I figure her being Romildas older sister - same annoying habits and same hair. And with the Angelina-thing, I remembered distinctly that Lee Jordan said in one of his commentaries that one of the chasers was a reserve player in the year before. I thought it was Angelina, but as I re-read the books lately, I saw that it was actually Alicia, so there's a mistake on my side. But you could see it thus - Angelina wasn't on the team, as well as Katie (what with being a second-year), but Alicia is, because Oliver realised at the end of the year before that she's actually a really good Chaser. It works this way, I guess.

MarMonroe: That, too, was a mistake on my part, because I wrote one prologue and then the chapters and I forgot to change the titles automatically gives the chapters.

all: Thanks for all your lovely reviews! They're more motivating than anything else.

(Sorry if my English is a bit weird sometimes, but my mother-tongue is German. =))

But now, on to chapter 4! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: Oliver's all mine! Mine! Alas, he's not. None of them are. *pouts*

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"_At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in," said Hermione sharply. "_They_ got in on pure talent."_

_The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered._

„_No one asked y__our opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat._

_Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him, Alicia shrieked, _"How dare you!"_ and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoy's face._

_A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backwards onto the grass._

"_Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione._

This evening, Hermione sat alone in the common room. Harry and Ron had detention, so she had brought a book from her dormitory and sat down in one of her favourite chairs next to the fire to read. She hadn't seen Oliver all day except for lunch and dinner, where he had been rather absent.

Finally, the portrait of the common room opened and Oliver came in with a book, sitting down in a seat next to Hermione. She knew the book he was reading all too well – it was _Quidditch through the ages_.

"Reading that book again?" she asked, closing her own book about Transfiguration.

"Yeah," Oliver answered. "I thought maybe I'd find something in there…you know, some tactics to beat Slytherin."

Hermione didn't answer. She knew how desperately Oliver wanted to win the Quidditch Cup, after Gryffindor had been flattened by Ravenclaw last year, but with the whole Slytherin team equipped with the fastest brooms on the market, it wasn't easy not to crush his hopes. Hermione didn't know much about Quidditch, but what she knew was that the Gryffindor team was the best in Hogwarts. It would be a shame if Slytherin won.

"That Malfoy boy is a git," Oliver said after a few minutes silence.

Hermione sighed. "I've got to say, I didn't know what he was calling me until Ron explained it to me afterwards. It's a pity his wand backfired."

"Yeah," Oliver responded in a casual tone, but Hermione could tell he didn't like the direction the conversation was going to. "A pity. Where is your little hero now?"

"The little…you mean Ron?"

"Well, yes, seeing as you're always hanging out with him and Potter."

Hermione stared at him, having no clue what exactly was going on. "Oliver, I don't know what you're talking about, because I never said that Ron was my hero. But he and Harry are both in detention tonight."

"In detention?" Hermione didn't know if she imagined things, but his face showed some kind of gloating. "What for?"

"That enchanted car of theirs," Hermione answered. She still couldn't believe how Harry and Ron could've acted this irresponsible and stupid.

"Oh, right," Oliver said, a bit huffy. "That car they've flown to Hogwarts what everyone thought was so cool."

Hermione was more and more bemused by the minute. Why was he acting so strange? "Well, I didn't think it was cool. They're lucky that they haven't been expelled, not to mention that Ron's dad is facing an enquiry at the Ministry just because of their stupidity. The detention just serves them right; if you ask me, it's much too mild."

She was glad to have someone she could rant to – Harry and Ron always reacted much too touchy when she began to tell them off for something.

"I think you're right," Oliver answered with caution. "I just thought you'd think too it was great because they're your best friends."

"That's got nothing to do with it. They may be my best friends, but they're really stupid sometimes. Well, Ron more than Harry."

Oliver looked rather happy about Hermione's answer. They both continued with their reading for an hour or so, until Hermione yawned deeply. She had gotten up rather early that morning and felt that she needed to go to bed. Shutting her book, she told Oliver so.

"Don't you want to wait for Potter and Weasley?" he asked.

Hermione yawned again. "Not really. I need a good night's sleep."

She was almost at the staircase to her dormitory when Oliver called her again.

"Hermione, I've got a question. Didn't you wonder where Malfoy was today?"

Frowning, Hermione thought about that. Now that he mentioned it, she hadn't seen Malfoy since he had called her a Mudblood.

"Um, yes, he wasn't at lunch or dinner. Why?"

"Well." Oliver grinned. "I just thought you wanted to know that he's spending the weekend in the hospital wing. Seems as if someone cornered him alone and jinxed him thoroughly."

"Who?" Hermione asked, guessing the answer.

"Well, no one knows. Malfoy can't remember. Whoever did it must've put a nice memory charm on him."

Oliver winked and Hermione went up to her dormitory, not sure whether she should be thankful about this or not.

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Do tell me if you hated or loved it, please. :)


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